


Time in a Bottle

by Glittering_Darmallon



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Gift Giving, M/M, Mutual Pining, Winter's Crest (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21866290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glittering_Darmallon/pseuds/Glittering_Darmallon
Summary: Fjord has found the perfect Winter's Crest gift for Caleb. Here's hoping he likes it.
Relationships: Fjord/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 2
Kudos: 108





	Time in a Bottle

**Author's Note:**

> For Nebulouskiwi over on the Widofjord Discord. Happy Holidays.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky in a splendid, almost choreographed dance, fluttering along in the gentle breeze until they met their fellow flakes on the ground. They weren’t heavily falling, but they were accumulating nonetheless. If one were to kick it, they’d send a cascade of white into the air around them.

He’d never thought of himself as particularly poetic, but Fjord enjoyed the sight and the joy it brought him. Still, it paled in comparison to the one who walked beside him. Every so often, maybe a hundred paces or so, he’d look over at Caleb and admire the way the snowflakes clung to his auburn lashes, the contrast of the white against copper hair. The winter chill had brought a pleasant pink to Caleb’s cheeks. And all Fjord could think was how much he’d like to kiss him.

“And that, Fjord, is the very basis of how transmutative magic works,” Caleb said, unaware of just how many times in the last minute alone he could have caught Fjord staring.

_Quick_ , Fjord thought, _make up an answer that won’t give away how little attention you were paying_. “Well, when you put it like that, it makes a lot more sense.”

Caleb looked over him, studying him, and as cliched as it sounded, Fjord felt his heart skip a beat. “You didn’t understand a word I said did you?”

Fjord rubbed the back of his neck. “No. I was a bit distracted if I’m being honest.”

“By?”

He gestured around them. “At this beautiful sight. Just looks so peaceful. Apologies.”

Caleb nodded, seemingly pleased with the answer he received. “Do you have everything? All your Winter’s Crest gifts?”

“Yeah, I mean well no. But can’t exactly get one for you with you here can I?”

A soft chuckle escaped Caleb’s throat, “No, I suppose you can’t. However, it would seem that you are in luck, as I also must shop for you. Meet back here in...what do you say half an hour?”

“That should be sufficient. Don’t get into trouble,” he teased.

“Speak for yourself.”

Fjord sighed as Caleb walked away. This was a new feeling for him, but he was smart enough to know what it was, even if he couldn’t admit it aloud. He was getting there, though. 

He shuffled through the city until he came upon a shop he’d never entered.  _ Armin’s Arcanery _ . Well now, that seemed right up Caleb’s alley. So, with a curious hand, he pushed open the door. The comforting scent of cinnamon and rosemary met him as entered.

“Hello, I’ll be with you in a moment,” the shopkeeper called from somewhere in the back. “Feel free to look around. Careful with the breakables thought.”

“Will do. Thank you.” 

A pair of bracers looked tempting, but he was shopping for Caleb, not himself. The shop went back farther than it looked on the outside, and there were several cases upon which he could look. He noticed two books on magical theory, and, though he did consider them, the case of scrolls up front drew his attention.

Brilliant as he was, Caleb was always seeking new magic, new spells to learn. Fjord strode to the case, picking up the sheet of waxed parchment that sat upon it. As his eyes scanned it, he noticed it was a list of scrolls available to purchase. Most, he was sure Caleb already knew, a few Fjord knew he didn’t but didn’t seem like things Caleb might be interested in. Then, at the bottom of the page, was one Fjord knew he couldn’t go without buying.

“Excuse me,” he said when the gnomish shopkeeper made her way to the counter from the back. “I am interested in one of your scrolls. This one here, at the bottom,” he said, tapping the words 

“My you have expensive tastes. That scroll takes quite some to create. It is quite pricey. Will set you back five thousand gold pieces.”

Fjord pulled out his coin purse. “I have, one hundred platinum, two black pearls, an emerald, and…” he began to quickly count his gold, “eighteen hundred gold pieces. Will that be sufficient?” he asked, pouring as much earnest emotion as he could into his face. “It’s for a gift for someone I lo- care about very much. I have other mundane objects to trade if it isn’t-”

The shopkeeper smiled, the corners of her eyes wrinkling as she did so. “Pricey gift. They must be worth it for you to spend all your coin on them.”

“He is.”

“I’ll give it to you for forty-seven hundred. Don’t want to leave you with nothing. It  _ is _ Winter’s Crest after all.” She walked over to the case and pulled out the scroll before depositing it into a leather scroll case. Fjord handed over the payment as she placed the scroll into his hands. “He’s lucky to have you. Good day.”

“Same to you. And have a wonderful Winter’s Crest,” he said before stowing the scroll and heading back to meet Caleb.

***

  
  


“Oh this is nice,” Caduceus sighed as he inhaled the scent of the herbal tea Fjord had given him. I think I’ll serve this with breakfast tomorrow.”

Fjord smiled, looking around at his friends, his found family as they enjoyed their gifts.

“And you promise you’re not making fun of me with these?” Nott brandished the placard of shell buttons he’d given her.

“Yes. I saw them when I was getting my cloak mended last week. I thought they were neat, and well, you love buttons. So I thought they’d make nice additions to your collection.”

She scrutinized his expression. “You better not be mocking me. And yes, they will.”

He looked over just in time to see Caleb open the gift from him. His throat dried out in an instant. What if Caleb hated it?  _ Then you’ll be out five thousand gold, you dummy _ , he scolded himself.

Caleb opened the scroll, staring at it for a long, silent while. Finally, he spoke. “This is...too much, Fjord. This is a powerful spell. It must have cost you a fortune. Makes my ship in a bottle look paltry by comparison.”

“Hey, now. I really like that ship in a bottle you got me! Besides, I got a good deal on it. I think the merchant didn’t know what they actually had. Do you like-”

Caleb nodded, rushing off out of the common room in the tavern to the one he shared with Nott upstairs. Fjord? Well, he stared after him with the face of a drowned kitten.

A minute later, he heard, “Come see me in the morning,” echo in his head.

Fjord played it calm, making pleasantries for as long as he could. Eventually, nerves and fatigue won out, and he left the rest of the group and headed upstairs sure that Caleb didn’t actually like the gift at all.

Sleep did not find him easily.

***

With a tentative hand, he knocked on Caleb’s door. Fjord had slept longer than he’d intended, and he was kicking himself for keeping Caleb waiting. Not even a moment later, he heard the bolt unlock.

“Good morning, Fjord. Please. Come in.” Caleb gestured to the room. He looked about as tired as Fjord felt. Had he been up most of the night too?

“You, sit here,” he pointed to a pillow on the floor, and it was then Fjord noticed that Caleb had made what looked like a blanket nest upon the floorboards.

“What-”

“Shh. Sit, please. I want you to be here for this.”

Fjord obliged, ignoring the ache in his knees as he lowered himself to the floor. He was about to ask what was going on when he watched Caleb’s hands start to trace arcane imagery in the air between them. Almost as quickly as he started he finished, then stood. 

“I will return in a moment, ja?”

“Okay?” Fjord watched him leave, and not even a second later return as if he hadn’t left at all, his face alight with a radiant grin.

“It worked! Fjord, this spell is amazing! Thank you!”

“Oh, that’s what this was? I meant the spell for you to use when you needed a bit of time to yourself. You could freeze the moment, and go relax. I’ve noticed that you get overwhelmed and need silence for just a little bit. To give you peace of mind was worth every copper.”

Caleb sat down across from him and took his hand. “What makes you think I wouldn’t rather spend that time with you?”

Fjord swallowed hard. Surely, this wasn’t happening.  _ You’re dreaming, Fjord _ . Yes, that had to be it. “I-” His brain was blank.  _ Think of something, jackass! _

“Yes?”

“I would very much like to kiss you, Caleb.”

Caleb’s smile softened into fondness. “And I would very much like you to kiss me as well. So what are you waiting for?”

Nothing. He’d waited long enough; he wasn’t waiting another damned minute more. If he were a poetic man, he’d write sonnets about that kiss. He wasn’t. So it was just a fucking, fantastic kiss. Best one of his life so far.

When they parted, Caleb sighed, breathless. “Took you long enough.”

Fjord grinned, resting his forehead against Caleb’s. “Luckily for me, I know a wizard that can stop time.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
